Articles Posted in Criminal Appeals

Kim Jackson, a 45-year-old Florida man, was sentenced to death in October of last year after being found guilty of the 2004 murder of 49-year-old Debra Pearce. Jackson allegedly stabbed the victim in her chest and slashed her throat at her home on Bennington Drive in Jacksonville. Now, the Florida Supreme Court will determine whether Jackson’s conviction and sentence will be overturned and a new trial granted, based on arguments about the two pieces of evidence, a bloody fingerprint and a hair, both said to be the defendant’s.

In October, Nada Carey, Tallahassee Assistant Public Defender, raised the argument that in such a brutal murder, there were only two pieces of evidence – and even that evidence could be in question. While the hair and bloody fingerprint found in the victim’s kitchen did put Jackson in the victim’s home, Carey believes both could have been present for days or even weeks before the murder took place. Carey’s grounds for appealing Jackson’s conviction and sentence is that prosecutors failed to prove the fingerprint was left the day the murder took place.

Carey told Justice R. Fred Lewis that the state’s expert agreed that it was possible that blood splashing on top of the fingerprint, which already existed, could have preserved it. In addition, Carey said comments made about Michelle Royal, the defense’s fingerprint expert, by the Assistant State Attorney supported grounds for the case to be thrown out. Royal testified in court that the quality of the fingerprint was not adequate to determine that it was positively that of the defendant’s right little finger.

15 years ago, Neal Robbins was convicted of killing his girlfriend’s toddler, a 17-month-old girl who was believed to be asphyxiated while his mother was out running errands. Robbins, a Willis, TX man, has been in prison for 15 years and was sentenced to life in prison. Now, his conviction has been overturned by an appeals court based on new Texas legislature passed last year, according to the Chronicle.

The article states that the legislature passed makes it possible for courts to reconsider cases that were decided on questionable scientific evidence. Originally, the medical examiner determined that the death of Tristen Rivet was homicide, however she admitted years later that the manner of death in the toddler’s case should have been “undetermined.” Robbins appealed his conviction in 2011 after the medical examiner reassessed the evidence, however his appeal was narrowly denied. Now, because of the new legislature passed last year, Robbins has successfully appealed his conviction based on he reevaluation of Rivet’s autopsy. Robbins, who is now 39 years old, remains in a Beaumont prison while prosecutors determine how to move forward.

Tristen’s mother, Barbara Hope, allegedly found the toddler in her crib after she had come in from running errands. She said that Tristen was cold, had blue lips, and was not breathing. She took the toddler outside and with the help of a friend and neighbor attempted to perform CPR. Tristen was pronounced dead about an hour later at a local hospital. It was then that the medical examiner determined the toddler had been asphyxiated. Prosecutors alleged that Robbins pressed down on the toddler’s chest to kill her intentionally.

In April of this year, 50-year-old Clifford McNeal was convicted of third-degree theft in connection with a string of burglaries in 2011 involving the theft of large construction tools and equipment from three construction companies, one owned by Ken and Lisa Steck, Christner Construction, and Batten and Shaw, Inc.

McNeal appealed his conviction claiming that the search warrant that resulted in his conviction was not supported by probable cause. Two other men, John Wey and Michael Jones, were co-conspirators in the case. According to a news article at the Ottumwa Evening Post, Wey and Jones frequently broke into buildings to steal equipment and tools to sell. After being reported by David E. Downen of Downen Construction as one of the burglars, Jones told investigators in an interview that he and Wey frequently broke into buildings and stole tools and equipment to sell in order to support their drug addictions. Wey allegedly sold most of the stolen property to Cliff McNeal, who allegedly knew that the property was stolen.

McNeal allegedly stored the stolen construction tools and equipment in an enclosed trailer according to Jones, who said that McNeal had recently moved the trailer outside of town to a rural location. Police obtained a search warrant, however Jones admitted he did not know where the trailer actually was. Police did locate the trailer, however McNeal’s attorney challenged the search warrant, claiming it did not meet state law and U.S. Constitutional requirements regarding protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. McNeal was found guilty after the district court rejected the argument, however the appeals court reached a different conclusion.

On Wednesday November 5, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals sent the murder case of Alfred Dewayne Brown, a man convicted in the 2003 death of a veteran Houston Police Officer, back to the lower court for a new trial. Brown allegedly shot Charles R. Clark during the course of a burglary at a check-cashing store. Now, Brown’s 2005 conviction and death sentence have been thrown out by the appeals court because of new evidence that has come to light, evidence that was allegedly withheld by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.

Devon Anderson, District Attorney in the case against Brown, said in a statement that their office discovered that material information was not provided to the defense at trial. Their office agreed that the defendant should receive relief in order for justice to be served, however she did not reveal whether the state would try Brown again for the murder, or dismiss the case.

Brown has always insisted that he was not at the check-cashing store when the officer was shot, that he was at his girlfriend’s apartment. While his defense lawyers did not present evidence to support his claim, Brown said that he had made a landline call that could prove his innocence. Brown appealed his conviction once and lost, however a private law firm took over in 2007 and began a search for evidence that would support their client’s alibi.

In February of this year, 23-year-old Ryan Garcia was convicted of first-degree murder in a Lawton courtroom after jurors found him guilty of stabbing an inmate to death in the GEO prison. Garcia allegedly participated in the 2012 beating and stabbing of Sonny Limpy, a 25-year-old inmate at the prison.

In all, there were six inmates who attacked the inmate according to an article at Tulsa World. The attack involved a dispute among gang members. Garcia said that the group of inmates who attacked Limpy intimidated him into participating.

This past July, Garcia was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Garcia has now appealed the conviction and is asking a judge to overturn it based on alleged prosecutorial misconduct. According to Garcia, another inmate who allegedly helped him dispose of the weapon used to attack Limpy was given immunity and leniency by prosecutors in exchange for his testimony in the case.

In August of this year, Michael Horton, a former teacher’s aide, was found guilty of first-degree sodomy in a Madison County court. Horton’s attorney asked for a pre-sentencing investigation immediately, as Horton and his family sat in disbelief, looking shocked at the jury’s verdict. Horton allegedly sexually abused a child who was in his care in 2008, and was arrested in 2009.

Although it took the jury two days to come to a decision, that decision was not easily made. According to a news article at WHNT News 19, the jurors told Judge Dennis O’Dell on Friday morning that they could not reach a verdict, that they were “stuck.” The case had been handed over to the jury on Wednesday afternoon. Judge O’Dell told the jurors to continue deliberating, and to do their best and “be fair.”

Horton’s defense lawyers said that the “story” was made up by the alleged victim’s family, and that their client is innocent. It took the case years to finally get to court, as various issues kept coming up. At one time, the victim would not cooperate, then changed course a few days later.

In September, Columbus Jones requested that the Ohio Supreme Court allow him to file an appeal in connection with his 2011 murder conviction for allegedly firing a gun at a fraternity house which resulted in the death of one man and injury of others who were present. The court denied the motion due to the fact that months have passed since Jones’ conviction was affirmed by the 7th District Court of Appeals.

Jones was sentenced to 92 years to life in prison following his conviction. In February of 2011, a commotion broke out on a dance floor that ended with the death of Jamail Johnson and several others being injured after more than 20 shots from two different guns were fired toward a fraternity house. Eyewitness testimony and other evidence resulting in Jones being convicted, however he maintains that he was not the shooter, and the evidence is not credible.

In appealing his conviction to the Ohio Supreme Court, Jones wrote that he was not properly notified by his legal counsel of the process. Jones allegedly was not aware that as the months went by, his time period in which to appeal ran out. He claims the lapse was brought to his attention by an inmate clerk working in a prison legal library.

In July of this year, 71-year-old Charles Black was convicted of attempting to murder his then-wife in April of 2011 when he allegedly hit her in the head with a rock and pushed her off a cliff in Maine. Black tumbled over the cliff with his wife, Lisa Zahn, and both were hospitalized for a time. Both Black and Zahn were retired teachers from Kansas, according to the Huffington Post.

Allegedly, the two got into an argument regarding a $4 million inheritance Zahn had received from her father, how Black was spending it, and his alleged affair with an Arizona woman. It was during this argument that Black allegedly tried to kill Zahn by pushing her over the cliff.

Black told police that while they were on the mountain top, he had collected two rocks thinking that he and Zahn would throw the rocks over the cliff, a symbol of freeing themselves of the baggage in their marriage and making a fresh start. Zahn, 55, testified at trial that Black hit her three times in the head with the rock before being pushed over the cliff, where she landed on a ledge before making her way to the bottom to get help.

As this article indicates, even lawmakers can find themselves in trouble with the law. On Thursday, October 9, the criminal conviction and sentence for former U.S. Representative Rick Renzi were upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, according to a news report at AZ Central.

Renzi, a former Arizona Republican Congressman who served from 2003 to 2009, was found guilty in 2013 of money laundering, racketeering, conspiracy, and other felony offenses. He was given a three year prison sentence, but was not imprisoned pending his appeal of the conviction and sentence.

Renzi was convicted by the U.S. District Court on what were basically two criminal schemes. He reportedly funneled money into his own political campaign which were insurance premiums designated to be paid to his company, and was found guilty of extortion when he allegedly threatened to block a federal land exchange proposal unless the proposal included property a business associate friend of Renzi owned.

On September 19, a Salt Lake City judge ordered Dr. Martin MacNeill to serve 15 years to life for the murder of his wife so that he could carry on an affair with another woman, according to a news article at Fox 13. MacNeill is now appealing his sentence, which was to be stacked on top of other crimes he had been convicted of including forcible sex abuse and obstruction of police.

Ultimately, the former doctor faces a maximum of 45 years to life behind bars. On Monday, September 29, his attorney filed documents to appeal the judgment, sentence, and commitment according to the article.

MacNeill had been a respected physician who enjoyed a high social standing with his wife, Michele. According to a judge in the case, he was living a double life with his wife and Gypsy Willis, his mistress, but was not willing to give up his marriage and sacrifice his career/social standing. He then went on to plot his wife’s death, according to Fourth District Court Judge Derek Pullan.